Anna (L) Montgomery County resident. Molly Carr(R), Food Missioner of St. Isidore’s The Abundant Harvest
Serving others is the way Anna coped with the despair of losing her home after Hurricane Harvey flooded her house and her entire neighborhood in Montgomery County. Anna looked down the road to the needs of her parents whose home was also damaged, and then she saw the needs of her other neighbors. With her bilingual skills and a joyous personality, Anna reached out to and for her neighbors. 
Working with Molly Carr of Abundant Harvest, Anna helped identify the needs and the priorities of those around her. Molly partnered with Episcopal Diocese of Texas (EDOT) Hurricane Recovery staff, the Rev. Stacy Stringer and Project Manager Kécia Mallette.
After gathering a strong team, she quickly identified a family who needed drywall, another who needed lumber, a third one who needed appliances, and another family who needed help completing forms for assistance. Anna looked to her neighbors’ needs first and then began to dream about her own home.
A year and a half after the storm, Anna is finally looking up. She and her husband elevated their home and began building with the donated supplies from EDOT Hurricane Recovery. A new stairway lifts visitors to a porch, then to the living room still being built slowly as her husband finds time between paid employment opportunities.
The space smells of new construction, and not of mold anymore. Molly entered the space with “whoops” of joy, embracing Anna, listening to her excitement and lifting her up with words of praise and encouragement. Anna’s fatigue and despair lingered just below the surface, but with Molly’s help, her eyes sparkled with tears of relief and joy.
The champion who served her community was finally excited about coming home herself. Daring to dream – to look up at her family’s future – was a gift revealed inside a house that was still a work in progress.
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas, through its partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development, is reaching out to assist families for whom conventional disaster recovery mechanisms fall short. Learn more about how you can donate and volunteer by contacting the EDOT Hurricane Recovery staff -The Rev. Stacy Stringer, Kecia Mallette, or Suzanne Hollifield at Contact the Hurricane Recovery team at edotHurricaneRecovery@epicenter.org
